An in-depth guide is now available from ASTM that describes the
process for implementing effective institutional and engineering
controls at brownfields and other contaminated sites: E 2091, Standard Guide for the Use of Activity and Use Limitations,
Including Institutional and Engineering Controls. Also available
in early 2001 from ASTM will be a training program on use of the
guide.

Guide 2091 is the first comprehensive document of its kind to
tackle the complicated issue of improving the implementability
and enforceability of land use controls at sites where there is
residual contamination.

Currently being reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and Department of Defense for potential incorporation
into their programs, the new guide provides suggestions for improving
the implementation and enforcement of activity and use limitations,
or AULs, on sites where residual contamination is allowed to remain
in place, typically under a risk-based cleanup program.

The guide provides a reference manual on correct terminology,
a description of the types of tools (e.g., covenants, easements,
zoning, permits, and deed notices) that are being currently being
used, descriptions of best practices, and diagrams that illustrate
how to select the best AUL tool in light of the exposure pathways,
receptors, and chemicals that are present, says Amy Edwards,
Esq., Holland and Knight, Washington, D.C., chairman of the group
that developed E 2091.

Crafted by members of ASTM Subcommittee E50.04 on Performance
Standards Related to Environmental Regulatory Programs, E 2091
was written with input from state representatives, EPA, U.S. Department
of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the private sector,
consultants, and attorneys. The subcommittee is part of Committee
E50 on Environmental Assessment.

...[M]any states have adopted voluntary corrective action or
brownfields programs that utilize risk-based corrective action
principles, the guide explains. One element of these programs
may be activity and use limitations to achieve either an acceptable
risk or no significant risk level. ...While this guidance is
most likely to be applied where risk-based corrective actions
are conducted, use of activity and use limitations is not restricted
to risk-based applications. Both institutional and engineering
controls may be employed as elements of a remedial action that
is based on concentration level, background, or other non-risk-based
approaches.